Christmas at the Malfoy's
by bouncingblondeferret
Summary: Lily Potter drags her family to the Malfoy's for Christmas to be with her boyfriend, but he has a secret that his father understands a little too well. Next-gen one-shot written for a holiday competition. Warning for food ships- Drapple and Scorange.


It took Draco every ounce of willpower he possessed to turn his back on his beloved. Three more days, he said to himself, three more days until they leave and we can be alone.

"Did you find it, Draco?" Ginny called. Ginny's daughter, Lily, and Draco's son, Scorpius, were dating. They had used every persuasive technique they knew (as well as a little bit of bribery and blackmail) to convince their families to spend Christmas together. That was why the Potters (Harry, Ginny, James, Albus and Lily) were spending their holidays at Malfoy Manor with Draco and Scorpius. Draco and his wife, Astoria, had divorced before Scorpius started at Hogwarts and no one knew why.

"Yes it was in the pantry," Draco replied from the kitchen. He stole a quick kiss with his love and returned to the dining room.

"Now that you've found the napkins we can start our wonderful Christmas lunch," said Ginny, "it looks superb Draco, I had no idea you were such a chef."

"Yes, yes we're all fabulous here but can we eat? I'm starving! Someone didn't let me have breakfast this morning," James said with a pointed look at his mother.

"Well if you'd gotten up before 11 o'clock maybe you would have…" Draco drowned out their bantering with thoughts of his love, her sweet supple skin, the way she felt in his mouth…

"Potatoes, Dad?" Scorpius' question woke Draco from his daydream. But his thoughts didn't completely return to his dinner, part of his mind was still imaging the wonderful time he would be having with his darling in three days once the Potters had left.

As Scorpius lay awake that night he was having an internal moral argument. He had three choices, but he knew he wouldn't be able to decide, the right thing and what he wanted to do were very different things. He lay there thinking, turning it over in his mind, for hours and ultimately decided to ask his father for advice. A majority of Scorpius' mind believed his father would call him a loon and send him to the mental ward at St Mungo's, but the other part thought Draco would be able to help Scorpius in his moral dilemma, they had become quite close since the divorce, though not even Scorpius knew the reasons behind it.

Scorpius picked up a spherical object from his bedside table and walked to his father's room. When he arrived there he found his father lying awake on his bed despite the late hour.

"Dad?" Scorpius whispered.

"Scorpius?" Draco answered, squinting in the darkness. "What's wrong?"

"I need your help, Dad," Scorpius exhaled, "I'm having love troubles."

"I don't know how much help I can be but I'll try my best," Draco said thinking about how miserably his love life had been.

"I … um … never mind I'll just…" Scorpius trailed off, fingers gripped tightly on the object behind his back.

"Scorpius, what's the matter? You know you can tell me anything," Draco reassured his son.

"You'll think I'm mad and then you'll send me to the mental ward at St Mungo's," Scorpius mumbled.

"I promise, whatever it is I won't think you're mad." Draco thought about his own secret and how people would question his sanity if they ever found out. "I promise."

"Okay, well," Scorpius began nervously, "you know how much I love Lily, but I have another love."

"Who is it?"

"It's not a who exactly … um it's," Scorpius showed his father what he was holding. It was an orange.

Draco's face was blank but his mind was buzzing with thought. His son loved an orange. He wasn't the only man who loved a fruit. Thank wizard god it wasn't a banana. How did he help his son decide between his two great loves?

"Dad?" Scorpius asked, "Don't send me to St Mungo's, just … forget it, I'll go back to bed."

"I'm not going to send you to St Mungo's," Draco calmed his son. "I should tell you something too." He got up and walked over to the dresser on the other side of the room. When he returned he had a small object in his hand and showed it to his son. "I don't think you're mad for loving Orange because I … love Apple."

"It must be an inherited trait," Scorpius joked, then became serious again, "what do I do though Dad? I love Lily and I don't want to hurt her but I love Orange too. She'll think I'm loony if I tell her but it wouldn't be right not telling her."

"You should tell her, Scorp. If you love her and she loves you, you'll be okay. If you don't tell her and she finds out on her own that's where the problems start."

"What do you mean "where the problems start"?" Scorpius asked feeling confused. Then it dawned on him, "You don't mean that that's why you and Mum split up? You split over an apple?" Scorpius was the first person Draco had told and he wasn't taking it well. "You and Mum got a divorce over an apple?"

"There were other reasons too-"

"Like the fact you loved a piece of fruit more than my mother, the woman you married?" Scorpius' inner Malfoy was showing, he was usually calm and reasonable but this had tipped him over the edge.

"Scorpius, calm down you'll wake the Potters," Draco hissed.

"No! I won't calm down," Scorpius said stubbornly.

Draco decided a change of subject would be the best way to calm his son, "You have to tell Lily. She'll understand, or at least pretend to. She's a reasonable person, you'll be okay."

Scorpius glared at his father but decided to take the bait for the change in conversation. "I'll tell her in the morning," he sighed. "But how do I tell her? I can't just knock on her door in the morning and say 'Happy Boxing Day Lily, I love Orange as much as you' and expect her not to slap me."

"It's up to you to decide how to tell her, but perhaps you should get some sleep and think about it in the morning."

"Yeah, you're right. Thanks Dad," Scorpius said, ignoring the touchy subject of the reason of his parents divorce.

"_Lumos_," someone whispered and a wand ignited.

"Put it out or you'll wake him," a second voice ordered.

"Fine. _Nox_. Happy? But don't blame me if you stub your toe on something in the darkness," the first voice said grumpily.

"Just shut up and find the present," the second voice ordered.

"Why don't we just 'accio' it? I'm of age now," the first voice said proudly.

"This is Scorpius Malfoy we're talking about; he'll have some sort of anti-theft charm in his room," said the second voice tiredly. "Now keep looking."

"How am I supposed to find it in the dark? Didn't think that one through did you, little brother?"

"Fine light your wand, if your constant talking hasn't woken him up yet a little light won't." But the brothers had woken him up. Scorpius was laying silently and completely still in his bed wondering what on Earth James and Albus Potter would be looking for in his room. Albus had mentioned something about a present but what would they want with one of his Christmas presents? And how would they know what he got for Christmas, when Scorpius himself hadn't even opened them all?

"Why did we even get him that coupon for a ferret?" Albus sighed.

"I thought it'd be hilarious, which it would have been if you didn't change your mind and make us get it back."

"It wasn't very funny, James, his father would have been furious. Where would he have put the card?"

"I dunno. If I were a rich snobby Malfoy, where would I put a present from someone as awesome as the Potter brothers? He doesn't seem to have a 'place of honour' so maybe on a shelf or the floor?"

"Good thinking, that wasn't where I was looking," Albus said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Jeez this bloke's a heavy sleeper. You would have thought he might have woken up by now," said James, barely keeping his voice in a whisper.

"I woke up five minutes ago I've just been listening to your banter," Scorpius said sitting up and making the brothers jump.

"Oh…" Albus could feel the awkwardness in the air. "How much did you hear?"

"Everything since you came in," Scorpius replied. "I put the presents I didn't open yesterday on the shelf by the door by the way. Yours is probably there. Did you really get me a coupon for a ferret?"

"It was James' idea!" Albus blurted.

Scorpius laughed, "I'm not mad at you, though my dad might be. Do you know where your sister is? I need to talk to her."

"I think she was going to get some breakfast," James said.

Scorpius grabbed his Orange and followed the brothers down to the kitchen. "Lily, I need to talk to you. Do you want to take a walk with me?" She followed him out to an empty hallway where they sat against the wall.

"What is it?" Lily asked. "And why are you holding that orange?"

"That's what I need to talk to you about," he began cautiously. "You'll probably think I'm completely mad after I tell you but please remember how much I love you. What I'm about to tell you doesn't change the way I feel about you in any way, you're still the most important girl in my world but…"

"But what?" Lily was feeling nervous and confused.

"But…" he lifted Orange carefully and spoke so quietly that Lily had to lean in to hear his words. "I love Orange."

"Why do I get the feeling you mean more than it's your favourite fruit?" Lily asked with her face blank.

"Because you know me so well," Scorpius said with a small smile. "I love you Lily but I love Orange too."

"Okay," Lily whispered, "okay."

"Okay? You're not going to flip out or call me a loon?" Scorpius asked.

"Scorp, I grew up with the Scamander twins as two of my best friends. Luna and Rolf Scamander's kids. I'm used to weird things and as long as this doesn't change anything between us, I'm sure it'll be fine."

"Thank you, Lily," Scorpius said hugging her. "I knew you'd understand. I love you."

"I love you too Scorp," Lily smiled, but on the inside she was panicking slightly about this new information. She pushed it to the back of her mind; he said it wouldn't change anything between them so she would probably be able to forget all about it.

Two more days, Draco thought to himself as he tuned out another of James and Ginny's arguments, two days until we can be alone. Now that Scorpius knew about them he could be completely open with his love at home. Whether Scorpius would ever speak to him again was a completely different matter, but he knew they would be alright when the shock wore off.


End file.
